Jackass: The Movie
Jackass: The Movie is a 2002 American reality film directed by Jeff Tremaine with the tagline "Do not attempt this at home." It is a riskier and uncensored continuation of the stunts and pranks by the various characters of the MTV television series Jackass, which had completed its unique series run by this time. The film was produced by Dickhouse Productions and MTV Films and released by Paramount Pictures. The show features all of the original Jackass cast, including the leader Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Bam Margera, Preston Lacy, Ryan Dunn, Ehren McGhehey and Jason "Wee Man" Acuña. Brandon DiCamillo and Raab Himself also appear but not as frequently as in the show. Other regular Jackass personalities who made appearances include Rake Yohn, Manny Puig, Phil Margera, and April Margera. In addition, Rip Taylor, Henry Rollins, Spike Jonze, boxing star Butterbean, Mat Hoffman, and Tony Hawk make cameo appearances. Uncensored version of the TV show Because of the nature of the film, everyone involved knew they could get away with doing stunts that would never get past television network censors. To that end, they included skits that involved profanity (such as Bam Margera vowing and making good on getting his mother to use profanity on camera), extreme stunts (such as Rocket Skates, which was filmed for the television show but wasn't allowed to air due to the network censors), and extremely crude humor (such as Butt X-Ray, which involves inserting a toy car wrapped in a condom into Ryan Dunn's rectum and getting X-rays of the car inside his anus, or Dave England defecating in a display toilet in a plumbing store showroom). "Failed ending" In the ending of the film, Johnny Knoxville is launched from a catapult into a pond, where Rip Taylor sits in a boat, announcing that "this is the end." This is followed with the credits being shown over outtakes from the film. The original ending for the film was supposed to be a Rube Goldberg-type contraption, with each of the cast members performing a stunt that either has something to do with what they did on the show (for example, the first stunt would have Preston as "The Human Wrecking Ball", knocking him into a Port-A-Potty), or simply for a sight gag (such as Ehren being knocked over in the Port-A-Potty and landing on a bed of toilet paper rolls), ending with Johnny being launched off the catapult next to Rip Taylor. However, as the entire contraption didn't work together the way they wanted it to, the producers of the film decided to try filming an alternate ending, which is how they came to film the "Son Of Jackass" skit. The Son Of Jackass skit involves dressing all the performers in 'old man' clothing and having them run around exploding buildings and sheds, with only Steve-O surviving to proclaim "Yeah, dude." In the cast commentary, it is said that this is ironic as Steve-O is the least likely to even reach old age. Some bits of the failed ending were incorporated into the end credits montage, like the skateboarder dressed in a penis costume and the giant Plinko contraption. Cut out Because of the sensitive nature of some of the stunts, as well as the possibility of legal action, some parts of the film had to be edited out. One example of this is in the Riot Control Test skit. In this skit, Johnny Knoxville is shot at with a beanbag projectile from a pump-action shotgun. The first time Knoxville is shot at, it misses him making him extremely nervous. The scene was later edited out as, while the "Jackass" crew could waive civil liability, they could not waive criminal liability. Hence should Johnny or any cast member have been killed or grievously injured as a result of a stunt, the producers of the film could possibly be held liable on the grounds of negligent or reckless homicide or battery. While Knoxville and other Jackass participants are clearly aware of the risks involved in their stunts, the threat of criminal liability was significant enough that the Los Angeles law firm Irell & Manella advised cutting out segments which could potentially be used as evidence in such a case. In addition, the final skit in the film called "Butt X-Ray" was edited to remove the insertion of the toy car into Ryan Dunn's anus, the reason being that displaying the insertion might have been considered pornographic or otherwise highly objectionable by the MPAA, and could have earned the film an NC-17 rating, severely limiting its distribution. Japanese version Since some scenes of the film were shot in Tokyo, Japan, a special edited version was made and screened for Japanese audiences. Some bits were edited out for legal reasons (especially scenes showing people's faces without their consent); however, they were placed back in for the special DVD version. A reason for filming extensively in Japan is that laws requiring non-consenting participants to have their faces censored do not apply in Japan. Box office performance The film had a budget of $5 million and was the number one film at the United States box office when it opened, grossing $22,763,437, revenue from 2,509 theaters, for an average of $9,073 per venue. The film fell to fourth place in its second weekend, but dropped a lower than expected 44 percent to $12,729,732, expanding to 2,530 theaters, averaging $5,032 per theater, and bringing the 10-day gross to $42,121,857. The film went on to gross $64,255,312 in the United States alone, with the opening weekend making up 35.43 percent of its final gross. It also made $15,238,519 in other countries, bringing the worldwide gross of $79,493,831, returning its investment nearly 16 times over, and thus making the film a huge financial success. Reception Jackass: The Movie received mixed reviews from critics. As of November 2010 on the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, 49% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 93 reviews (46 "fresh", 47 "rotten"), and among the "top critics" reviews, 35% of reviews were favorable, with the general consensus being, "There's a good chance you'll be laughing hysterically at one stunt, but getting grossed out by the next one in this big screen version of the controversial MTV show". On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 42 out of 100, based on 14 reviews. * Ebert & Roeper – Richard Roeper called it the "feel-sick movie of the year" and said the film is "a disgusting, repulsive, grotesque spectacle, but it's also hilarious and provocative. God help me, thumbs up." Ebert gave the film a low rating, but only barely, explaining his rating comes "somewhere between a thumbs down and a sort of 'waving over' recommendation. * The Austin Chronicle – Kimberly Jones gave the film 3 stars and said the film is the "feature-length rendering of jackass the MTV show, meaning no plot, no script, just wall-to-wall idiocy." Jones said "It's silly, often stomach-churning, but also awfully addictive, inspiring the same kind of vicarious adrenaline rush as Fight Club, with its 'I bleed, therefore I am'; he-man mentality." Jones also remarked, "Consisting of a steady clip of barely minutes-long gags...this piece of outré performance art defies typical movie conventions...but that shouldn't surprise, or even disappoint, anyone lining up for a ticket." Jones wrote "the query 'can I have one for jackass the movie please?' sort of implies you know what you're getting yourself into" and "all told, either you get it or you don't." * Chicago Tribune – film reporter Mark Caro gave the film 1 star out of 4 and called it "willful idiocy for idiocy's sake." Caro also said "there's one stunt that I bet none of these moronic daredevils would tackle: trying to say something intelligent about Jackass: The Movie." Mark Caro also remarked, "Maybe the best way to look at Jackass: The Movie is as a piece of conceptual art. How far and low will these guys go? What's the pinnacle of pointlessness?" then concluded "I don't like conceptual art." * Deseret Morning News – Jeff Vice gave the film 1½ stars and said the 80 minute runtime was too much. Vice said the film should have been rated NC-17 and said that many people will find the film to be "possibly the most irresponsible picture ever released by a major film studio." * Entertainment Weekly – Owen Gleiberman gave the film a "B" and said the film "provokes a suspense halfway between comedy and horror. I'm not sure if I enjoyed myself, exactly, but I could hardly wait to see what I'd be appalled by next." Gleiberman also said "In the movie version of the show that might just as well have been called America's Funniest Frat-House Hazing Rituals, the boys engage in infantile Candid Camera grossouts...but mostly, the happy masochistic stunts just keep coming", and also remarked, "it's difficult to reprimand Johnny Knoxville and his crew of merry sick pranksters when their principal pastime consists of dreaming up elaborate new ways to punish themselves." * Film Journal International – Ethan Alter, who admitted to having never seen an episode of the TV show, said he couldn't say he enjoyed watching it, and said "it would be easy for me to hold Jackass: The Movie up as a leading example of the decline of Western civilization." Alter said he was disturbed by "the film's, and by extension the audience's, cavalier attitude towards pain." Alter went on to say the film "deliberately defies any and all cinematic conventions", "there's no story or characters to analyze", and said "simply put, there's no movie to review here, just a series of blackout scenes you're either going to find supremely funny or incredibly idiotic." Ethan Alter also said the film "may be the most experimental feature ever released by a major Hollywood studio" and also that it "appears to be hailing the birth of a new reality genre: Call it America's Most Sadistic Home-Videos." * LA Weekly – film critic Paul Malcolm listed Jackass: The Movie as one of the 10 best films of 2002 and also called it the most underrated film of 2002. * Film Threat '– Pete Vonder Haar said the results of "essentially transplanting the show to the big screen" are "incredibly funny and often too disgusting for words." Vonder Haar said "the masochists of ''Jackass aren't hurting anyone but themselves", "no one is exploiting these guys", and "Knoxville and Co. joyfully sacrifice their bodies for our amusement, and it works." Vonder Haar also remarked "the end result is a collection of some of the best physical comedy since Moe first smacked Curly on the head" and called it "one of the funniest films I've seen all year." * '''The Miami Herald – Rene Rodriguez gave the film 2½ stars out of 4 and said "Johnny Knoxville and his merry band of anarchists ran around performing the sort of suicidal stunts parental warnings were invented for" and "the gang also likes to train their sights on the unsuspecting public, Candid Camera style." Rodriguez also said "It is not at all sexist to suggest most women will find Jackass: The Movie as further evidence they are the more intelligent sex" and "As much as I laughed throughout the movie, I cannot mount a cogent defense of the film as entertainment, or even performance art, although the movie does leave you marveling at these guys' superhuman capacity to withstand pain (and their even stranger eagerness to suffer it)." * New York Post – film critic Lou Lumenick said "this plotless collection of moronic stunts is by far the worst movie of the year." * The New York Times – A.O. Scott said the film "is essentially an extended episode of the popular Jackass MTV series" and that "some of the undertakings, amateurishly recorded on video, are like demented science experiments." Scott said "Jackass the Movie is like a documentary version of Fight Club, shorn of social insight, intellectual pretension and cinematic interest" and also remarked, "Occasionally, there is a flicker of Candid Camera-style conceptual inventiveness, especially in the bits filmed in Japan." * The Village Voice – Ed Halter said "their feature debut plays like a longer episode of the show" and said "it's funny, as the old saying goes, because it's true." Halter wrote "the structure is ruthlessly efficient: no plot, no characters, no sets, and no downtime—just one sight-gag right after another." Categorization * Scott Foundas of Variety referred to Jackass: The Movie as the first reality film when reviewing The Real Cancun in April 2003. * In a film critic roundup of 2002 films in The Village Voice, film critic Armond White said "Best Documentary: Jackass, far and away." * Ed Halter of The Village Voice wrote, "MTV would surely love to claim Jackass as a mutant by-product of its Real World franchise, but its roots lie elsewhere", saying "their self-destructive brand of docu-comedy emerged as a bizarrely elaborate version of a skateboard-video mainstay: slam sections..." * Jennie Punter of The Globe and Mail said the film "belongs in the too-hot-for-TV direct-to-video/DVD category". Soundtrack The soundtrack was released on October 25, 2002 by American Recordings. The soundtrack features songs that were featured in the movie, and various audio clips from the movie. Sequels Jackass: The Movie was filmed with a modest budget of approximately $5 million, but earned more than $22 million during its opening weekend, effectively managing to secure the top spot at the box office for its debut. It eventually grossed more than $64 million in North America alone. At the time, the cast and crew said many times that a sequel to Jackass: the Movie would never be made, On September 22, 2006, Paramount Pictures released Jackass Number Two. According to Rip Taylor, the sequel was to be called "Son of Jackass." This was a joke, of course, but Knoxville replied, "To answer all the questions from the first film?" In late December 2007, a direct-to-video feature titled Jackass 2.5 was compiled from outtakes shot during the making of the second film and released. In December 2009, Paramount Pictures and MTV Films issued a press release that a second sequel titled Jackass 3D''would be made. It was released on October 15, 2010. The movie was filmed in 3D starting in January 2010. ''Jackass 3.5 was released in early 2011. "Unrated" DVD release To go with the release of Jackass: Number Two, Paramount Pictures released an "unrated" version of the first film on DVD on September 5, 2006. References External links *Jackass: The Movie on IMDb ru:Jackass: The Movie Category:Movies Category:Paramount Pictures